Midnight Hot Chocolate
by EmmieSage
Summary: Lately Marinette has been a little down and Paris's superhero Chat Noir has taken it upon himself to cheer her up.


Marinette stood on her rooftop, her hands clutching the railing as the soft evening breeze ruffled her hair that for once was out of her signature pigtails and instead was left to freely hang down to her shoulders. Staring out at the Parisian city which was bathed in golden light from the setting sun was her favourite way to calm down, especially after a stressful day. It was one of her favourite aspects of being Ladybug, she was able to see her city from a completely different view. This evening would have been almost peaceful, if it hadn't been for the presence Marinette could feel hiding just behind the chimney.

"You know, you would make a terrible spy Chat Noir." She addressed the superhero, suppressing a laugh as she heard him quickly inhaled from the surprise of being caught. Tonight wasn't the first night Marinette had noticed the cat stalking her, he'd been the the last two. At first she let it go, curious to see what he was going to do and how long he was going to keep this up but now it was just getting ridiculous. The hero revealed himself with a sheepish grin and joined her of the balcony.

"A spy? I wasn't spying, I was just- on patrol. Gotta make sure that the city is all safe!" He attempted to convince her using his usual Chat Noir suave but tonight it wasn't going to work.

"I can see right through you Chat Noir. Besides this isn't the first time you've come here. So why are you stalking me? Don't superheroes have lives outside of fighting crime?" Hearing there seriousness in her words, Chat dropped the facade, his left hand autonomously started fidgeting with his hair.

"To be honest, I've been making sure that you're okay. You've been out here every night and looked pretty down."

"What a gentleman, you've decided to make sure I don't get akumatized. Still makes it creepy to stalk someone Chat."

"Hey, I'm just concerned. So what's wrong Marinette?" Marinette paused before answering. It was a little strange for Chat Noir to be worrying this much about Marinette's person problems. Sure they had spoken quite a few times, he'd saved her twice, she had helped him on a mission and occasionally he stopped for a small chat on her balcony ever now and then, but did that justify him stalking her? She contemplated brushing off the question but ultimately decided that it would be nice to get everything off her chest, to have someone listen to her without any impact on her life since she didn't know Chat Noir as Marinette.

"Just a little stressed I guess. It feels like everything in my life keeps going wrong and I can't handle it. Plus I can't talk to anyone about it and it just makes me feel so isolated!" Marinette confessed as she let out a very dramatic sigh. Chat Noir placed a comforting hand on Marinette's shoulder.

"You can always talk to me if you want. After all, a problem shared is a problem halved."

"I suppose you're right kitty. It's more of a multitude of things. A girl at school has been really bothering me lately. She's been going out of her way to make my life miserable and tries to turn my own friends against me. And the worst part is that everyone believes her! Well, almost everyone."

"Almost?" queried Chat Noir.

"Well not Adrien. He knows that she's lying."

"Then you're not alone. Having one friend by your side is better than none."

"That's true. I'm grateful but sometimes I just lose it." Despite having Adrien's support, it was slowly getting harder to ignore the damage that Lila was causing in Marinette's life. Just last week she had managed to get Marinette expelled. While it was a relief to know Adrien believed her, that boy brought up his own can of worms.

Chat Noir brought the conversation back to the original topic."That's only one problem, you said there were others?"

"On top of all my school work, my other responsibilities, like uh- working in the bakery, have been taking up all time. It feels like I don't have time to be me anymore. Plus there are some issues concerning the boy a like." Marinette said the last part in little more than a whisper, already half regretting bringing Adrien up. She wasn't sure that she should tell Chat Noir this much, but she felt like she could trust him.

Chat Noir found himself being able to relate to this second problem oddly well. Lately Hawkmoth had really been stepping it up with there sometimes being two akumatizations in one day. Not that he minded being Chat Noir more often, but the lost sleep was starting to become noticeable.

"Boy problems? Want some advice from a certified love expert?" Chat Noir asked while giving Marinette a cocky smile.

"Love expert?" Marinette questioned with much skepticism.

"No really. Haven't you seen my swooning fans?"

"I think Ladybug might contradict that."

"You're avoiding the subject Marinette. Spill the boy problems," he prompted while completely deflecting the question. As soon as he said this, Marinette's previous confident and sassy persona disappeared and was replaced by the usual shy and awkward one that was associated to anything Adrien.

"Not much to spill really. I've been trying to tell him how I feel but to him I'm just a friend. Whenever I'm around him I just get tongue-tied and super clumsy. It's kind of pathetic really." She sadly chuckled at the end, thinking of her own incompetence. She nervously tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and focused her gaze squarely on the floor, not really wanting to see Chat Noir's reaction to her shortcomings. Chat Noir was somewhat confused. At first he thought Marinette had been talking about Luka since they had always seemed really close, but there was no way that Luka considered Marinette just a friend. He concluded that it had to be someone that he didn't know. Surely she had other friends outside of school.

"Not pathetic at all Marinette. It's normal to be nervous about making yourself so vulnerable. And if he can't see how amazing you are, then he's an idiot." Marinette couldn't prevent her cheeks from blushing as she heard Chat's words which differ from the usual mischievous and flirty tone that he used when she was Ladybug. This sounded so much more sincere and real. It was another thing for Chat to be saying this to Marinette, not Ladybug which felt more like an alter ego or someone with confidence she aspired to be more like than regular Marinette. As Ladybug she had plenty of fans with crushes on her and gave her attention, but as Marinette she could barely get correct words out around the boys she liked. Not being used to the attention, Marinette struggled to find something to say. The silence made Chat feel more self-conscious as he began to regret what he said.

"S-sorry. I didn't mean to… I'm not good at comforting people," he sheepishly admitted, something he certainly never thought he would do as Chat Noir but Marinette made him feel so comfortable that he didn't mind. "I'm still figuring out people. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or anything."

"Please, don't apologise. I just wasn't expecting it. So the great Chat Noir isn't very social?"

"I'm working on it, don't worry! Before this year I was kinda shelter, more of a loner. So people can still be a little unpredictable, especially when they're upset. I know what I like to do when something's bothering me, but other people is a more complex problem I suppose."

"Well what would you do to cheer yourself up?" Marinette asked, somewhat surprised to learn about Chat Noir's struggles. He always acted so confident around Ladybug and civilians while they were fighting akumas. She wondered if being a superhero allowed him to do things without thinking and without the fear of judgement like it did for her. Chat looked unsure of himself and uncertain if he wanted to answer the question.

"Maybe it's kinda stupid but I usually get a warm drink, wrap myself up in blankets and play video games. That way, even just for a small period of time, I can pretend that I'm somewhere else and can escape whatever's got me down."

"That doesn't sound too crazy." Marinette gave Chat a supportive smile. "It's like when I design or sketch an idea. I get so absorbed in it that nothing else matters." Chat instantly felt much better having someone else truly understand him wasn't something that he was used to, but he already liked it. Marinette grabbed Chat's hand and pulled him towards the trap door leading to her bedroom, a playful laugh escaped her lips. A confused expression crossed Chat's face at the sudden movement, but he didn't resist as she tugged his arm, urging him to follow him. They both climbed down into Marinette's bedroom. Once inside Marinette led him to the chaise where he obediently sat down, still curious as to what Marinette was doing. When he was seated she opened up her closet and pulled out a pink and white polka-dotted blanket, unfolded it and threw it over Chat's shoulders.

"Make yourself at home. I need to go get something," said Marinette as she walked towards the second trap door leading to the rest of the house.

"What are you up to?" Chat asked, finding himself quite amused by the circumstance. Marinette flashed him a cheeky grin.

"You'll have to wait and see. Besides haven't you heard that curiosity killed the cat?" She retorted as she climbed down the stairs. As the trapdoor clicked closed behind her, Chat surveyed the room. He had only been there a few brief times as Chat Noir and twice as Adrien. On none of his visits had he really taken in much of her room, though he noticed there was still quite a few pictures of him on her cork board and walls. A strange sense of pride filled him before he reminded himself that she only had them for the fashion, not him. He pulled the blanket tighter around his shoulders, revealing in its warmth. The digital clock on Marinette's desk flashed midnight exactly when the trapdoor reopened and Marinette entered the room with two steaming mugs of hot chocolate.

"Hope you weren't waiting too long," she exclaimed as she placed a mug in his hand and a controller in the other. After turning the TV on Marinette joined Chat under the blanket as they both sipped their hot chocolate.

"Ultimate Mecha Strike III?" Chat asked as the main menu started up.

"It's one of my favourites. I hope that's alright," Marinette explained, insecurity starting to fill her at her choice but Chat was quick to quell her fears.

"Are you kidding? It's my go-to game! Bet I can beat you."

"Oh you wish kitty. It's so on." She bantered with the superhero. Despite the fight that Chat put up, Marinette won the first match. Chat challenged her victorious smile to a second match and they continued playing for another hour until Marinette started falling asleep on the chaise, leaning onto Chat with her head resting on her shoulder. Chat removed the gaming controller that was slipping out of Marinette's hand and placed it on the ground before directly addressing her.

"As much as I'd love to stay, I think this is a sign that I should get going."  
"Yeah, you're probably right," Marinette half-mumbled however she made a point of nestling into Chat. With Marinette still leaning on him, he somehow managed to stand up and bundle both Marinette and the blanket in his arms with Marinette only giving a few sounds of protest at being disturbed. He carried her past the chaise, being careful not to knock the now empty hot chocolate mugs that were on the ground. He put Marinette down on her bed.

"I had a really great time tonight Marinette. I think this was exactly what I needed," he whispered to her. Her eyes slowly opened and she smiled up at Chat.

"Me too. And Chat, if anything's bothering you, feel free to show up for another midnight hot chocolate."

"I couldn't think of doing anything better. Sleep well princess." And with that he disappeared onto Marinette's roof and into the night, leaving Marinette to peacefully drift to sleep.

**Authors Note:** Hope you enjoyed this little one-shot. I'm now taking fanfic commissions on Fiverr so if you're interested click the link: emmiesage/write-miraculous-ladybug-fanfiction. Thanks for reading!


End file.
